It's no epiphany to point out that the CIO's world is changing. Technology budgets are moving to other departments, apps and infrastructure are moving to the cloud, CDOs are moving in, the bad guys are moving to steal your data ... so what's the CIO's best move?

It's been about 15 months since Extreme Networks completed the acquisition of Enterasys Networks, a move that bolstered not only Extreme's financial heft, but widened its switching line and beefed up its wireless LAN capabilities. Extreme CEO Charles Berger gave IDG US Media Chief Content Officer John Gallant an update on the progress of integrating Enterasys's technology and discussed how software-defined networking is reshaping the industry. He also discussed how Extreme's work on in-venue wireless with NFL teams and others will benefit all customers.

Forget the territorial battles being fought at other companies between marketing and technology executives. At renowned athletic gear maker Adidas Group, the digital marketing approach is built on a real alliance between the two disciplines.

The future of the CIO is perched precariously on the branch of relevance. In other words, the CIO can soar on the wings of massive transformation, helping companies become world-class digital businesses. Or CIOs can topple under this pressure and be "usurped" by a CIO capable of leading this transformation, says Forrester.

Smartphones aren't cheap, but they've become our window to the world. We use them to run our lives, stay plugged in and even get some work done. We can't live without 'em. And so we dig into our pockets every month to pay a huge phone bill despite our shoestring budget.

Dave Smoley is the CIO of AstraZeneca, one of a handful of pure-play biopharmaceutical companies that spans the entire medicine production chain: discovery, development, manufacturing, distribution and global commercialization. He joined the $25 billion AstraZeneca, which employs more than 50,000 people worldwide, after a lengthy stint as CIO at Flextronics International. In an interview, Smoley--a member of the CIO Hall of Fame--described his approach to IT staffing at a time when the pharmaceutical industry is undergoing major changes.

SAP's announcement that it will pay US$8.3 billion to buy business-travel and expense software vendor Concur might have generated less initial buzz than the companies hoped, given it was almost simultaneous with the revelation that Larry Ellison has relinquished his CEO seat to become CTO and executive chairman of Oracle.

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is the public face of the Software Defined Networking movement, spelling out requirements and defining standards. The group's board includes Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs on the data center side, and Verizon, Deutsche Telekom and NTT Communications on the service provider side. Additionally, there are close to 150 members, from global telcos to startups. To get a sense of where the movement stands, Network World Editor in Chief John Dix tracked down ONF Executive Director Dan Pitt, who spent 20 years developing network architecture, technology, standards, and products at IBM Networking Systems, Hewlett Packard and Bay Networks.

NBCUniversal is a major media and entertainment company that owns and operates a portfolio of television networks, a motion picture company and theme parks. In this installment of the IDG Enterprise CIO Interview Series, NBCU CIO Atish Banerjea spoke with Chief Content Officer John Gallant about NBCU's biggest opportunities and challenges. Banerjea discusses how the company is using technology transformation to drive innovation. He outlines NBCU's CI project, which is driving the IT team's partnership with the ad sales organization to create new sponsorship and revenue opportunities that capture the value of the media giant's broad portfolio of media properties.

The corporate landscape captured in marketing guru Larry Weber's new book, "The Digital Marketer: Ten New Skills You Must Learn to Stay Relevant and Customer-Centric," is one where the CMO might be seen as increasingly moving onto the CIO's traditional turf. Weber sat down with IDG News Service recently to talk about how that relationship can work in the successful digital enterprise.

There's no question the cloud has revolutionized the way global business is done - increasing efficiency, cutting costs and making collaboration simpler, even when customers and partners are half a world away. Vince Sarrubi, CIO of Webcor Builders, talks with CIO.com about changing older workers' minds, finding technology "cheerleaders," and how his company has leveraged cloud technology to take a bricks-and-mortar business to new heights.

When Chris LeBeau stepped into the top IT position at Peoria, Ill.-based Advanced Technology Services (ATS) nearly two years ago, he formulated a clear objective for the IT division: putting the right technology tools and capabilities into the hands of the company's 3,000 employees to help them be more efficient and effective.

William Hanna, vice president of technical services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), went out looking for a way to add capacity to a backup network and found what he wanted in Software Defined Networking (SDN) tools from Alcatel-Lucent. Network World Editor in Chief John Dix sat down with Hanna to learn about the process and experience.

Edward W. Marx focuses on technology's power to transform the healthcare industry. As senior vice president and CIO at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Marx has led numerous IT-enabled transformative initiatives aimed at improving patient health. Those projects include using social media to connect with the local community and implementing BI tools to deliver advanced clinical care.

Michael Keithley has more than two decades of experience as a CIO. However, the IT veteran says he's seeing more change now than ever before. CIO.com's Tom Kaneshige sat down with Keithley to talk about the challenges he and his colleagues face, the need to speak the same language as the business side and the reality of what lies ahead for CIOs who refuse to change their approach.

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